


Amaranth

by WanderingMyth



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, End game Kara/Lena, F/F, Lena has a low key crush on Alex, Maggie will show up later but main focus is Kara and Lena, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-02 18:13:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8677855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingMyth/pseuds/WanderingMyth
Summary: What if Kara and Lena knew each other in high school? A new girl transfers into Kara's school midway through the semester. Pale skinned with dark hair and a heavy use of black eyeliner creates instant rumours her sudden transfer. Unable to resist her interest in Lena,  Kara comes to realize that matters of the heart don't always follow a straight path.High school to present day AU - expect slow burn. Rating and additional tags to be updated as the story progresses.





	1. There's a New Girl

She was late. For a girl who had super speed it was rather ironic. It had been the first night in months that she had a full nights rest and naturally she overslept. Kara rushed, at top human speed, into the kitchen and groaned as she read the note left by her adoptive mother on the counter.

Good Morning Girls,  
We're doing some tests at work this week which will keep me late at the lab for the next few nights. I've left some money for ordering food as well as some frozen homemade dinners in the fridge.  
Lots of love,  
Mom

Her adoptive mother often had business trips or research projects that led her to keep non standard work hours. Despite that she still found the time to set aside some premade meals and do a familly movie night when she was home. Sadly, for this morning, it meant she wouldn't be able to give Kara a drive to school.

A glance at her watch told her that her sister Alex had already caught the school bus. This left her with the daunting 35 minute walk to school. Okay so that isn't terrible, but when school started in 15 minutes and she would have to make that awkward late arrival to class... Nope, it actually was that terrible. Surely Alex wouldn't know she used her powers this one time to get there before the bell rang, right?

Wrong. Alex would know. She will check the library once the school bus arrives and will notice that Kara didn't catch the first bus. Begrudgingly Kara started her walk to school.

 

*₩*₩*₩*₩*₩*

 

Alex frowned as she saw that "Kara's seat" in the library was empty. She pulled out her cellphone to send a message to Kara when she saw one already waiting for her.

"Slept too late. Walking now but it takes so long :,(" 

"LOL now you know my pain."

"Not - you've never slept in!"

"I'll let the office know your late :p"

"Alexxxxx :("

Alex chuckled to herself as she walked towards the main office. Since her father passed away almost two years ago her relationship with Kara had improved leaps and bounds. It was Kara who held her tight as she sobbed and who's presence at night allowed her to sleep those first few months after the news.Before that she had always been jealous of Kara. Jealous of the powers her alien DNA gave her on earth and the affections her parents now split between them.Then there was the anger from all the expectations placed on her by her parents. Perfect grades, athletics, and role as a sister. It was too much change too quick. She ended up taking it out on Kara which made her more of a bully than a sister. When she entered high school while Kara was still in junior high they saw each other less. That distance helped to mend their relationship and when the news of her father arrived the rest was history.

The class bell rang as Alex entered the main office.

"Miss Danvers, shouldn't you be heading to class?" 

"I will Mrs. Sherlock. I just wanted to let you know my sister Kara is running late."

"Thank you Miss Danvers. Sadly she is not the only one today."

The secretary had a frown on her face as Alex let the office to her first class of the day - Biology. She was greeted by her soccer captain Sarah as she sat down. Sarah's bubbly nature was overflowing that morning.

"You'll never guess what!"

Alex answered to humour her, "What?"

"We're going to have a transfer student!"

Sarah clapped her hands excitedly in anticipation. Alex on the other hand was skeptical.

"That can't be right... Why not just wait until the next semester? Also you know she missed soccer tryouts right? Why so excited?"

"True, she may not be the next soccer superstar but what if she turns out to be my best friend I never knew I was missing?"

"Orrr you archnemesis," Alex joked. Sarah gave her a playful hit with her hand.

"Oww! Here I am trying to keep you grounded and this is how you repay me?"

Sarah stuck out her tongue in silent response.

"Miss Danvers and Miss Steele if you two wouldn't mind getting ready we are about to begin class."

Alex shot a look to Sarah before they both mumbled apologies and got their books out for class.

 

*₩*₩*₩*₩*₩*

 

Kara had never been so excited for a walk to end. The school had a surreal glow behind it signalling her survival - it definitely wasn't caused by the sun, nope. As she approached the steps to the school she saw a black car pull into the parking lot and a young girl stepped out of it. Her hair was ebony in colour and she had a complexion pale that contrasted against her dark edgy dress style. It wasn't until the girl had walked up the school steps and spoke to her that she realized her feet had not moved.

"I'm sorry could you repeat that?"

The girl smiled and said, "Do you know where the main office is? I'm new here."

"Uh sure, I mean yes! I'm on my way there myself actually. I'm running late which you obviously know since you are as well...And that came out rude. How about I stop talking and just guide us there?"

Kara motioned for the girl to follow at turnned before her tongue tied embarrassment would show on her face. While they walked she internally berated herself for another awkward stumble over words. How hard was it to behave like a normal human and string together a subject, verb, and object? Oh Rao...

The silence between the two girls was a comfortable one as they walked towards the main office. Kara noticed that the girl wore rather heavy amounts of mascara and eyeliner. It reminded her a lot of the style Alex wore a year ago except this girl... just... wore it better. 

"And here's the main office. Mrs Sherlock can help you with getting set up."

"Thank you," she paused and looked at Kara again, "you know, I don't believe I ever caught your name."

"Kara, my name is Kara"

"Thank you Kara. I'm sure we'll run into each other again soon."

She gave Kara a wink before turning to the secretary to fill out some forums. She was struck for a second before mentally shaking herself back to reality. Kara gave a quick wave to Mrs Sherlock to let her know she had arrived and signed a late arrival list. She made a quick jog down the hall to her classroom and entered quietly. The teacher spared her a quick glace and nod before returning to the lesson plan. Kara let out a sigh of relief and took an empty seat in the front. It was only after she sat down in her chair that she realized she never asked the new girl her name.

 


	2. The Art of Being Late

Lena examined the piece of paper given to her by the school secretary. On it was a tiny floor plan of the school which indicated the locations of the different classrooms.  Midvale high was a surprising big school and seemed to be a recent constructing or renovation. Midvale itself was a decent sized city but was definitely smaller than Metropolis. From what she had seen so far it seemed to have an assortment of shops, parks, and recreational locations. Not an overall unpleasant place to live. 

A trophy case caught Lena's attention as she walked down the hallway. The Midvale Lions and an impressive collection of men's football and women's soccer trophies. The debate team and band also had a few articles from newspapers clipped up in the display case. The school even had some articles that followed graduated students and some of their outstanding accomplishments. 

The loud sound of the school gave Lena a shock and multiple students started to pour out of the classrooms. As she continued her walk down the hall she could feel the stares of questioning students over her body. Let them wonder, she told herself, and paid them no mind as she kept her head up and only spared the occasional glance down to make sure she was headed to the correct classroom.

 

*₩*₩*₩*₩*₩*

 

The sound of the bell broke the silence in Alex's classrooms like a spell. Students around her started to pack up their bags and chat.

"So, see you at practice after school?" Alex turned to Sarah and pretended to mulled over her words. 

"Well that depends, will there be sprints today?"

"Only if you keep messing up our midfield line," she joked, "but for all I know you mess up on purpose to make us have to do them! You must be the only person I know that actually enjoys that much cardio."

"Guilty on both accounts. Guess I will have to fumble a pass or two to meet the team fitness quota."

"Do that and I won't be your AP Bio project partner. Serious consequences Danvers."

"Fine, I'll bring my A game... for today's practice." Sarah rolled her eyes in response.

"You're incorrigible. Pack up your stuff if we're lucky we can run into the transfer in the hall."

Alex tried not to laugh and Sarah's tenacious nature.

"Easy there Steele, your extrovert is showing."

"I can't help it! The last new person we had transfer into this school system was in junior high - and they left the following year! Every person in this school will be checking out the transfer for dating or friendship material."

The two of them made their way towards the door of the room and just as Alex turned her head around to speak to Sarah she found herself crashing into a person trying to enter the room. Both of the ended up tumbling to the ground and the girl who cushioned Alex's fall let out a soft grunt. 

"I'm so sorry," Alex said quickly as she got up and proceeded to help the girl pick up items she had been carrying. She froze though when she looked at who she knocked down. Something about her was familiar. Sarah on the other hand started to laugh.

"You know when I said run into the transfer I didn't mean literally. My name's Sarah by the way. The human wall you ran into is Alex."

The new girl raised a questioning eyebrow at Sarah's humour as if to gauge her genuine jovial nature. Only after she picked up the remainder of her items on the floor did she respond.

"Sarah, nice to meet you and Alex thanks for the help. It seems though that my class isn't in the scheduled room."

"Which class are you looking for?"

The dark haired girl turned her head to Alex who asked the question.

"AP Chemistry."

"Makes sense then. We are doing a lab class today which you wouldn't see on the schedule. If you want I can take you there?"

"That would be great actually."

"Cool follow me then. See you later Sarah."

"Try not to make stuff explode" Sarah said back to Alex before she nodded to the transfer student, "Catch you later new girl." She then took off down the hall to her next class.

Alex turned back to the dark haired girl and looked at her quizzically. 

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before. What did you say your name was again?"

The girl smiled warmly but it didn't fully reach her eyes. 

"I can't see how that would be possible give this is my first time in Midvale. And my name is Lena," she stuck out her hand, "nice to 'officially' meet you."

Alex gave her hand a quick shake before looking at the clock in the hall.

"How lucky do you feel?"

Lena paused uncertain of what the question was truly asking. 

"As lucky as the average person I suppose. Why?"

"Our class started 2 minutes ago."

A strong expletive made its way from Lena's mouth as she followed Alex who laughed and took off in a quick jog towards their class.

 

*₩*₩*₩*₩*₩*

 

When Kara got home from school she settled down quickly to do her homework. She always enjoyed the proactive approach to studying - carpe diem and all those human sayings. That way once it was complete she could truly kickback and relax. Alex on the other hand was a total night owl. Kara could never understand how her sister could work like that late. 

The vibration of her cellphone let Kara know she received a text. Making a note of where she was in her studies she opened her phone to see who sent a message. A grin took over her face as she saw not only a message from Alex but also one from Cassandra. She hadn't heard from Cassie for a few weeks since she transferred over to Greece for a semester. The girl had connections with family over there decided to use them to see a bit of the world and study at the same time. Kara was happy for her but at the same time missed her friend a ton. She would have to take the time later that evening to write back to her. 

Kara's let out a shout of joy when she read Alex's text.

"Practice: complete. Your choice for takeout. OMW home."

Superpowers were awesome and all, Kara would be the first to testify, but the power of takeout menu choice reigned superior between the Danvers sisters.

"Totally ordering sushi tonight," she replied back, "want the usual?"

"Yup"

Kara took a moment to call the sushi place and order a few rolls for delivery before settling back into her homework. When the door rang 30 minutes later Kara rushed downstairs. Her x-ray vision told her that it was actually Alex at the door and not the Sushi delivery.

"I'm sooo disappointed you aren't sushi right-" Kara cut herself off as she placed her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't laugh. Alex glared at her reaction.

"Don't," she warned. Kara couldn't help it and the laughter burst out.

"Come on Kara it's not that funny."

"Half your hair is blonde! Mom is gonna kill you."

"That's not helping." Alex side stepped Kara into the house.

"Why isn't the food here yet?"

"It's late. Also you're totally not escaping this one. How did this happen?"

Alex made a sulking face.

"I lost a bet in AP chemistry."

"Oh? What about?"

"The uses of hydrogen peroxide. Nothing class related but my lab partner said it was used for hair bleaching."

"Peroxide blonde?"

"Seriously? You knew too?"

"Well I kinda studied how to be human, so..."

"Ugh, right. Anyways, she said if I thought she was lying I should put some in my hair."

"You'll actually rose to the bait?"

"Hey! I though she was making it up."

"Better late than never to learn something new. Though way to learn the hard way. Who's you're lab partner? Hopefully they're not going to make you pull all the weight."

"It's the new girl Lena. You may have seen her around - pale skin, dark hair, gives off 'I'm from the city and new here vibes'."

"Oh! That's her name. I helped her find the main office this morning."

There conversation was interrupted but a knock on the door. Alex looked at Kara and she in turn examined the door with her x-ray vision.

"Sushi?"

"Sushi."

"Oh thank god. I'm starving." 

Alex went to the door and paid for the food. Kara almost forgot that she ordered because her thoughts were filled with how the name Lena really suited the new girl.


	3. Rumors and Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates! I didn't have a chance to proof read over my chapters since work/studies were crazy. 
> 
> Thank you to all the wonderful people who left comments! Any and all feedback is always appreciated :)

A week had passed since Kara last ran into Lena and there were here an abundance of rumors flying through the school about her transfer that Kara's super hearing caught. If the rumors were anything to go by then Lena was possibly a few things:

1) The daughter of a Gotham crime boss that was hiding out until the heat from a job gone wrong passed over.

2) An international spy come to steal government secrets.

3) Or some washed up kid that had to transfer schools because of 'insert disaster here' (the rumours all varied on this part)

Kara personally couldn't see any of those rumors applying to her. Lena just had a different vibe about her which she couldn't place but she didn't feel like trouble.

When the lunch bell rang Kara beelined for the cafeteria. Every Wednesday their school did a different international cuisine to switch up the lunch menu and expose students to new foods. Kara's stomach rumbled at the smell of Indian food and she jumped into the line that quickly formed.

Once she had her food she cast her head up to search for Alex and spotted her a few benches away, food already acquired. Her sister always managed to make the front of the line this semester since she had a free period before hand.

"Hey Kara." Alex greeted her as she walked over.

There were a few girls from the soccer team sitting with Alex. When Kara first staryed to sit with Alex she was intimidated by them. They had a lot of power within the school but after a few lunchs she came to realize they were all just high school students like her - quite a relief. 

"Hey!" She greeted back. "Did anyone grab the extra spicy dish?"

She could see a few girls nod and others shake their heads.

"Careful how much you eat at once, it really is spicy," one girl said to Kara.

"I'll be careful not to get burned from the heat," Kara replied sincerely.

Alex gave her an inside eye roll because she knew that really Kara couldn't even feel the "painful" burn from spicy food quite like humans.

There was a pleasant conversation at the lunch table as people continued to eat their food. While the girls weren't Kara's friends they didn't openly mock here like some of the kids in middle school. She attributed this change to Alex stepping up to protect her and also for the fact that she started to understand more of the local human culture. Rao bless popular TV shows!

She was about halfway through her food when she thought she caught sight of Lena. Kara focused her attention around the cafeteria.

"So who's excited for home coming next week?"

Kara brought her attention back to the table as one of the girls spoke. There were a collective bunch of affirmative responses to the girl's question. This year was a bit different than those historically. Normally it was either a women's soccer or men's football game that was the highlight but this year there was one of each back to back and the school was abuzz over it.

"Think of all the epic after party that's going to happen!"

Frankly Kara couldn't care less about the drinking or partying of home coming. She didn't see how humans found it fun. On the other hand she couldn't exactly get drunk either so she obviously was missing some sort of entertainment in that event.

The girls went on to discuss some of the plans for who would host events afterwards and the coordination of school colours in their fashion. Alex through her a smile across the table to acknowledge her even though she may not be into the conversation. Kara returned one to her sister but shortly after politely excused herself from the table.

It was second nature that took her to the school library for the remainder of the lunch hour. There were a handful of magazines on culture, politics, and travel that she still hadn't read for the month. They were rudimentary compared to the texts she had read on Krypton but for the present they allowed her the ability to adapt to her new society.

"Fancy seeing you here." A vaguely familiar voice interrupted her read through an article. Kara glanced up and saw green eyes looking down at her. There was a smile on the dark haired girl's face that Kara's own lips started to mirror as she realized who had spoken.

"Lena. Hey, how's it going?"  _Success a coherent sentence!_

"Not bad. I was beginning to wonder though if you did in fact go to this school." Kara laughed at Lena's observation.

"Oh I do. I think your trouble finding me though is because we don't share any classes."

"A pity," Lena responded with a fake pout, "it seems oddly cruel that the first nice person I meet in this school doesn't share a single class with me."

"You never know, there's always next term." No one ever could say that Kara wasn't the eternal optimist.

"I'm taking an AP physics course in the winter," Kara continued, "any chance you're going to be in that?"

Lena tilted her head to look at Kara as she mulled over the question.

"I honestly haven't looked into my schedule for next semester yet. Maybe sometime this week if you're free and willing we could take a look at it together?"

 

*₩*₩*₩*₩*₩*

 

Alright so maybe that was a white lie. Lena had her entire education planned out to her PhD. She actually already had all but a few courses to graduate high school and simply enrolled because she wanted the "normal experience." So sue her if she wanted to make some friends along the way.

Kara's beaming smile though made it all worth it. There was something about the girl that was different from everyone else in the school and Lena was determined to figure out what it was.

"Sure that would be fun. Well at least I think it's fun planning for the future and all... Sorry I'm babbling."

She was too cute.

"No worries. I'll catch you around then?" 

"Oh, definitely. You can find me here most lunch hours so, you know, I'll be here."

"I'll keep that in mind." As Lena started to walk towards the hallway exit she heard Kara say, "Say Hi to Alex in Chem for me."

Lena didn't turn around but acknowledged the comment with a wave over her hand. How random! How did Kara know Alex?

She found her seat next to Alex in Chemistry and started to take out her materials for the class. A side glance at Alex brought a chershire cat grin to her face.

"You know I was just starting to get used to you having bleached blonde hair."

The glare in response was totally worth it.

"You are so lucky my mom was working late and didn't see it. She would've killed me."

They both stared at each other intensely for a few seconds before Alex's face cracked and her face morphed into laugher. Lena wasn't long to follow her same reaction.

"I still can't believe you let me bait you." Lena said through tears of laughter.

"I thought you were bluffing!"

The girls' laughter died down and they both focused their attention on the lecture as it started. For once Lena was glad there was someone at her school that could challenge her so freely. Deep down she hoped that by the end of the semester that she might count Alex as more than just her Chemistry partner.

"Alright class, semester projects are coming up. Please work with your lab partner to complete this project. There is quite a workload so please don't start this last minute."

Alex's head turned towards Lena. 

"Now, you may doubt my chemistry knowledge after that hair incident," Lena's eyebrow raised in response, "but I think on this project you will see me redeem myself."

"Well shall see but I think as long as it's not on hair beauty products you should be good."

Lena's teasing earned her an eyeroll from Alex.

"Salt in wound: Check. Now moving on, would you be free later this week to take a look at this project and maybe divide up some work?"

"Sure. Wanna meet after school?"

"Yeah that would be best. My house should be pretty quiet next week if that works for you?"

"Yep works for me."

"Cool, hand me your phone? I'll put my number in it."

Lena handed over her phone and watched Alex add in her number. Alex's phone buzzed shortly thereafter and she handed her phone back.

"Alright now I have your number and you have mine."

"Best Chem Partner Ever, really Alex?"

"Where's the lie?"

To that Lena had no response. 

"Exactly! Catchya around."

Lena watched Alex leave the room. She didn't even notice her own asymmetrical heart beat.


End file.
